Services for Robena miners held
MONONGAHELA TWP. – On a snowy, cold morning similar to the December day 40 years ago when 37 men perished in an explosion at the Frosty Run mine shaft, families and fellow miners gathered Friday to remember the sacrifices of those men and the thousands of miners who have died in coal mines over the past century. Edward D. Yankovich Jr., president of United Mine Workers of America District 2, said that every year for the past four decades, people have gathered to remember the men killed at Robena in 1962. That tradition, he said, will continue as a reminder of the changes that came about following tragedies like the one that took the lives of those miners.
“Through their death, they enabled a lot of us to work in a safer environment and provide for our families,” he said.
Dan Kane, District 2 international executive board member, said he sees many of the same faces every year at the memorial, and often answers many questions as to why people often brave cold and wintry conditions to attend the annual memorial.
He said coal miners understand why they come back year after year, to remember the men killed at Robena and the 100,000 men and women killed in mines since the beginning of the 20th century, not to mention the more than 100,000 others who have died from black lung disease.
“The safety laws in mines were written in blood, and today we give thought to some of the men who donated blood,” Kane said.
The mining community will never forget the sacrifices made to protect those working underground today, Kane said, but noted that the country is heading in a direction that is protecting business and not the needs of workers and their families.
“We know the value of family and we treasure our time together, because it can be gone in an instant, like an explosion of methane, the flash of a flame,” he said.
The names of all 37 men who died Dec. 6, 1962, were read aloud and wreaths were laid in front of the monument, while members of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4584 in Masontown participated in a rifle salute to the miners.
Yankovich said that the service will be held at the same time and place next year, because the union has a responsibility to all of its members, living and deceased.
He said a day will never come when the men who died at Robena that day 40 years ago will be forgotten.
“We’ve never had a nice day, but we’ve always had a faithful day, and that’s what counts,” he said.